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Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light (ファイアーエムブレム 暗黒竜と光の剣
, lit. Fire Emblem: The Dark Dragon and Sword of Light) is the first game in the Fire Emblem series, developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It was first released on the Famicom (known internationally as the Nintendo Entertainment System) on April 20, 1990. It takes place on the continent of Archanea. It stars Marth, a character who later appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It has never been officially released outside of Japan.

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Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light was one of the earliest games in the turn-based strategy genre on home consoles. However, unlike other strategy games, Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light is among the first, if not the first game in the tactical role-playing genre. Later games in the series made numerous changes to the gameplay. The following is a list of gameplay differences that distinguish this game from its sequels:

There are no colored tiles indicating a unit's movement range, and the player must move the cursor to see how far one of the characters can move.

Characters can only hold four weapons and/or items at a time. Also, weapons/items cannot be traded between two units. The player can give a weapon or item to another unit if they are holding fewer than four weapons and items, but the giving unit will not be able to move until next turn.

Weapon and item storage makes use of a tent (similar to the method used in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade), and it costs ten gold to deposit one weapon/item, while withdrawing items costs nothing. Also, the player cannot purchase a weapon or item at a store and send it directly into storage, meaning that characters carrying full loads cannot make purchases. However, anything dropped by a defeated enemy can be sent into storage directly.

Healing units (such as clerics) cannot gain experience from using staves. The only way they can earn experience is by being attacked by an enemy (even if the enemy misses).

There is no weapon triangle, or rock-paper-scissors relationship between weapon classes. However, weapons still have their own traits. For example, most axes and lances are more powerful but less accurate than swords.

The game takes place on the fictional continent of Archanea. The third game in the series, Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, also takes place in Archanea. It was also supposed to be the name of an unlockable map in Super Smash Bros. Melee, but the map was taken out as one of the final changes made.

There are several nations:

Archanea: Known as the Holy Kingdom, and shares the same name as the continent. It was founded by King Cartas after the first battle with the Earth Dragons. The Fire Emblem is the kingdom's treasure.

Altea: A kingdom of knights, founded by the Hero Anri. It is allied with Gra, who share the same ancestry. Marth hails from this kingdom.

Gra: A kingdom that branched from Altea. After the death of Anri, some members of Altea's royal family left over inheritance issues and founded Gra.

Talys: An island kingdom. Marth escapes here after his homeland of Altea is invaded by Dolhrian troops.

Aurelis: A kingdom located in the plains. It was founded by Cartas of Archanea, and was initially ruled by his younger brother, Marlon.

Grust: A militant kingdom, famed for its Black Knight squadron. It was founded by General Odin.

Khadein: Known as the sanctuary of sorcery. It was founded by Archsage Gotoh.

Macedon: An island kingdom, home to Pegasus Knights and Dracoknights. It was founded by Iote.

Dolhr: The kingdom of dragons, directly north of Macedon. It was ruled by the Dark Dragon, Medeus. It is inhabited by Manaketes.

Marth is prince of Altea and a descendant of Anri, the warrior who slew the dark dragon Medeus. However, after an attack from the neighbouring kingdom of Dolhr, Marth is forced to become an exile in the neighboring nation of Talys. His sister Elice is taken hostage after his father is killed battling the evil priest Gharnef. With the help of the Altean knight Jagen, the Talysian Princess Caeda, and others, Marth embarks on a quest to find the sacred sword known as Falchion and the Fire Emblem that will allow him to wield it. Only then will he be able to confront Gharnef and the resurrected Medeus, win the kingdom of Altea back, and rescue his sister.

The game would get a remake for the Super Famicom known as Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, which also contains a new sequel to the original game (dubbed as Book Two, while the remake of the original game is known as Book One). A second remake titled Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon has been released in Japan, Europe, and USA for the Nintendo DS handheld.The storyline is mostly the same but the graphics and menus are improved, and Mystery of the Emblemremoves content, while Shadow Dragon adds content, namely Shadow Dragon features the inclusion of a Prologue and Multiplayer modes, (Shadow Dragon being the first to feature online multiplayer) among other things.